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iPhone 6 fingerprint sensor suddenly stopped working

Hi everyone... would love some assistance if anyone can offer it...


I've had my iPhone 6 since they first came out. 128GB, running IOS 8.3. Have not upgraded to 8.4 yet.


I use my fingerprint sensor dozens, if not hundreds of times a day, and it has been extremely reliable... I'd say it works over 95% of the time, unless I'm perspiring. It knows the fingerprints from both my thumbs and index fingers, and I regular switch which finger I use depending on how I'm holding my phone. No issues at all.


All of a sudden yesterday, the success rate went down to below 10%. Now it is not recognizing any of my fingers. Nothing changed. I did not upgrade IOS. I did not cut my finger in any way. I did not change any settings. I restarted the phone. No change.


I've tried multiple times deleting my fingerprints and then re-entering them, and even that has been problematic. I keep getting error messages to either stop moving my finger so much (it's not moving) or to try a different finger. After about 4-5 tries, the fingerprint sensor will finish its process and take a complete print, and then it might work once to turn the phone on, but then it stops working again.


I'm not an expert in these things, but it seems to me it could be a hardware problem. Do the sensors often just fail with no notice? Any other fixes that I haven't tried yet before I take it into the Apple Store (and it will be a while before I can get there)?


Many thanks in advance for any advice!

iPhone 6, iOS 8.3, 128 GB

Posted on Aug 1, 2015 9:28 AM

Reply
2 replies

Aug 3, 2015 7:58 AM in response to Fly Line

Hi Fly Line,


If you are having issues with your iPhone not responding to Touch ID as expected, you may want to try some things to troubleshoot.


First, quit all running applications and test again -

Force an app to close in iOS


Next, I would try restarting the iPhone -

Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch


If the issue is still present, you may want to restore the iPhone as a new device -

How to erase your iOS device and then set it up as a new device or restore it from backups


Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.


Best to you.

iPhone 6 fingerprint sensor suddenly stopped working

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